Yes, Your Majesty
by J Plash
Summary: They had a lot to think about, and not nearly enough time left...but it was well after midnight, and they had a while to go yet. Suzaku remembers that sometimes, there's value in remembering how to smile. SuzaLulu fluff, mild humour. Spoilers to R2 ep22.


A/N: This fic was inspired by a gorgeous joke pic from the same awesome SuzaLulu cosplay shoot as inspired _Guileless_. The pic was just so adorable I _had_ to find a way to make it work in character, lol.

The pic in question: http: / / goldglorfindel . deviantart . com/art/Code-Geass-Emperor-Lelouch-99504826 (remove the spaces :-) )

And here is the fic :D Reviews, feedback, etc are much appreciated :-) Hope you enjoy!

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Yes, Your Majesty

It was _well_ after midnight.

Over the past…too many…hours, Suzaku had gone from standing strong on the dais, to slumping slightly, to leaning against the throne—a lapse that had horrified him three hours ago, but that Lelouch had talked him into when he'd been visibly swaying on his feet for half an hour. At least there'd been no one there, and little chance of it, at 1:00am. An hour and a half later, Lelouch had given up on convincing his knight and ordered him to sit down before he injured something, if he wouldn't go and sleep. Under normal circumstances, Suzaku wouldn't tolerate Lelouch trying to give him orders outside of the plan…but as Lelouch had somewhat sharply pointed out, the plan wouldn't help much if Suzaku passed out.

Thus he'd gone from trying to retain a semblance of dignity, to sitting against the arm of the damn throne…to now. Now, he was slumped half against the throne and half against Lelouch's shin, legs stretched out down the stairs of the podium, trying to keep his eyes open. Normally a night like this would be no problem, but he'd been out all last night and most of the one before, skirmished this morning before he'd had time to so much as change clothes from the night's mission, and spent the afternoon trailing Lelouch as he worked the media over the morning. He was exhausted. And Lelouch just would not go to bed.

"You don't have to stay up, you know." It was at least the fifteenth time Lelouch had pointed this out one way or another, his voice less detached and more concerned by shades as Suzaku inched closer to unconsciousness.

Suzaku shifted stiffly, shook his head, propped himself further up and moved his head away from the temptation to rest against Lelouch's knee. "And what would you do if something happened here? You're helpless without me."

Lelouch snorted indelicately. "You'd be a great deal of help in this condition."

Well, yes, that was part of the problem. Suzaku blinked the sleep away indignantly and stopped moving again—it wasn't worth the effort. "I'd be perfectly awake if I needed to be. Adrenaline quickens the body."

"You'll make yourself ill."

"So will you."

Lelouch didn't reply for a long time, and they lapsed into silence once more.

Finally—"I have a lot to think about, and not a lot of time left."

Suzaku nodded sleepily, barely moving, and covered a yawn. "Mmmnh. I know."

ooo

An hour later, when Lelouch still showed no sign of moving, Suzaku gave up resisting and let his head fall sideways to rest on Lelouch's knee. It was horrendously inappropriate, and he was a little worried he'd fall asleep, but at least if he was in here he'd wake up if danger arose, not keep sleeping, completely oblivious, half a wing of the palace away. Lelouch didn't say anything, so Suzaku stayed there, and let his eyes flicker shut.

A minute later, Lelouch gave up resisting and moved his hand to rest on Suzaku's hair. He wasn't sure that Suzaku was awake to notice, but it didn't really matter. He made a quiet, sleepy sound that might only have been a change in breathing, and he seemed content enough.

No more than ten seconds later, Suzaku gave in to temptation and raised one unsteady hand to join Lelouch's, a warm weight on the top of his head. Lelouch's thigh was a good pillow and the pressure of his hand was like a blanket and Suzaku felt warmer and safer and more relaxed here than he should have. Their hands joined on Lelouch's knee, probably mostly through Lelouch's effort, 'cause Suzaku was barely conscious, and a few seconds later Suzaku laughed quietly as he tried to thread his fingers up through Lelouch's and ran into five different oversized rings.

Lelouch let out a loud breath that was probably laughter too, of the dry, tired, ironic kind he favoured. "Are you losing your sanity down there?"

_Perhaps_, Suzaku thought wryly, unable to summon up the energy to really feel bitter about it at this time of night, and didn't say it. Instead, he tipped his head up a little, though probably not enough for Lelouch to see his half-formed grin. "All your jewellery is ridiculous."

_That_ made Lelouch stop.

"What?"

Suppressing a groan at what shouldn't have been this much effort, Suzaku hauled himself around until he could at least sort of see Lelouch's face. "All your bits and pieces, the beads, jewels, stuff…all the coats and the cloak and the hat and all that."

Lelouch drew a long-suffering breath in and out. "I have to fulfil my role as emperor, Suzaku. That requires me to remain focused, and to present myself in a certain way."

A certain way involving silly hats, a pink sword, nine pieces of clothing and so much jewellery he probably couldn't even write. It was an enormously tempting prospect to just yawn, sigh, rest his head back against Lelouch where it wouldn't throb, and tease the idiot until he stormed off to bed in a huff. But Suzaku was a knight, not a child. Keeping his head upright purely through stubborn force of will, he resisted the urge to provoke Lelouch further, kept his face straight and nodded more emphatically than he would have less tired, but with as little motion as he could—no point provoking the headache that inevitably accompanied three days straight awake. "I know, I know…I definitely know." He'd been hearing about 'the need to present oneself a certain way' constantly since the moment he'd become a knight, and Lelouch did it better than anyone. Suzaku didn't spend half of his day in a ten tonne cloak because he needed the warmth. "The hat is great. I was just laughing at your rings. Your hand weighs so much I can barely lift it."

Lelouch looked like he'd rather not dignify that with a reply.

He was so…still so much a child, sometimes. It was impossible not to smile; or it was easier to smile than to think about all the ways it made him want to cry. Suzaku rolled his eyes what really wasn't _fondly_—the Knight of Zero did not do things _fondly_—as his prince deliberately didn't look at him, finished turning himself round to face the throne, and resisted the urge to see if standing up and knocking the hat off would make the glorious emperor of Britannia stop pretending not to listen. "Lelouch."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow and tried to pretend that he was frowning. Even as tired as he was, it was hard to hide his amusement when Suzaku was so completely absurd.

Gently as he could, genuinely trying to make peace—Lelouch was probably just childish and vindictive enough to make him stay up all night if he really offended the idiot—Suzaku pulled Lelouch's hand from his white-clad knee and dragged it in for closer inspection. Lelouch glanced warily around the throne room, though he knew it was empty. Definitely no one, and Suzaku and Jeremiah had both checked for recording devices today. Good.

"See?" Suzaku blinked, eyes a little too wide in their effort to stay open, and Lelouch really did frown—Suzaku was staring blearily at the rings as though they might do something amusing, and it was hard not wonder if he really had lost his mind. "They're massive."

"I _know_." Lelouch attempted to pull his hand away, but Suzaku was ten times stronger, even exhausted. "You can let go of my hand, Suzaku," Lelouch murmured, glancing round once more.

And even this tired, Suzaku had to laugh that Lelouch was checking with all his devoted paranoia the chances of them being seen together by a 4:00am wanderer, but was happy to send his knight to bed and remain out here unprotected, should said wanderer have more sinister motives. "Yes, your majesty," he murmured, fighting another yawn, but didn't let go the hand as he twisted enough to lay his head down again. He'd barely closed his eyes, of course, when he thought better of it. This really was a lapse, an impermissible lapse. Lelouch was unsafe without him. He couldn't let himself sleep when someone could walk in with a gun. He had to stay awake.

Suzaku damned his conscience, scowled at nothing, and shook himself a few degrees further alive. With an impressive effort, he pushed a little energy back into his body, opened his eyes almost comically wide, and sat back up straight. Lelouch was still observing him with what looked like mild amusement, arch and distant and wearing that ridiculous hat. He clearly had no idea how Suzaku worried, telling him to just go to bed and leave him here alone, completely vulnerable. For a moment, Suzaku really was half-tempted to steal the damned hat. And then his mind flickered back to those grotesque rings, and it was a whim, and a stupid whim, but he was tired, and it made him laugh, and hopefully it would make Lelouch laugh too, so he pushed up onto one knee.

Lelouch's hand was still in his, bright stones making his beautiful, fine hands gaudy and heavy and awkward, and Suzaku slid their fingers back together and bit down laughter as he pressed his lips, bad-King-Arthur-movie style, to one massive, shining, blood-tinted gem, and kissed the emperor's ring.

Then Lelouch really was laughing; silently, under his breath, restrained, but Suzaku could feel the shaking in his body. They were both laughing. It was 4:30am, and they couldn't help it. And this was a good thing. Of that, Suzaku was completely, wearily, certain. They did have a lot to think about, and not nearly, nearly enough time left to them at all, but…it was _well_ after midnight. And they both had to live long enough to see his plans carried out.

He lifted his face away after a moment too long, and raised his eyes to meet Lelouch's. "Yes, your majesty," he repeated, smile still sleepy, but more sane than he'd felt since the war had torn them apart eight years ago.

For a long moment, Lelouch just stared; back straight, eyebrows raised; but lips turned minutely up despite his efforts, and amusement in his eyes. Then, at last, he bowed his head, and laughed again quietly, and managed to flip his hand so that the rings were out of sight. "Let's go to bed."

Suzaku's shoulders slumped again in relief, and Lelouch pulled on his fingers as he stood. "Before you lose your mind altogether," he added under his breath, and Suzaku grinned patiently and rolled his eyes and gave up not yawning as he hopped only a little unsteadily to his feet.

"Yes, your majesty," he repeated one more time as they walked a little more slowly than usual from the room. Suzaku's body was too fit to stumble after only two nights awake, and Lelouch had had enough sleep this week to be essentially fine. They weren't really having any trouble walking. But as they reached the corridor, they were still leaning on each other. And Suzaku's thumb was still fiddling with those ridiculous rings.

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A/N: Hope you enjoyed it :) Reviews much appreciated :)


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